Soldiers search outskirts of Diwaniyah for militia activity

Photo By Sgt. Robert Yde | Spc. Jason McCartney, a member of Troop C, 1st Battalion, 14th Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, searches through fallen palm leaves for any indication of hiding spots for weapon caches or other militia activity during a sweep on the outskirts of Diwaniyah, Iraq, April 12.  

DIWANIYAH, IRAQ

04.16.2007

Story by Sgt. Robert Yde 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

By Sgt. Robert Yde
2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ECHO, Iraq – After spending the previous day's efforts in the central market area of Diwaniyah, Soldiers with the "Bandit Platoon," Troop C, 1st Battalion, 14th Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, moved to the outskirts of town, April 12, to continue their operations in the southern Iraqi city.

The Soldiers rolled into the southeastern edge of town in their Strykers with two objectives in mind. Like the day prior, they were in search of a suspected militia member who was considered a high value target. After completing their raid and search of the area, the Soldiers were to search a nearby palm grove that was suspected to be a possible mortar launching point and hiding place for weapon caches.

Upon reaching their initial objective, the Soldiers quickly entered and cleared the house, only to find that their target was not there. However, there were several women at the house and after talking to them, the Bandit's acting platoon leader, Sgt. 1st Class Rodney Bryant was able to confirm that his Soldiers were on the right trail.

"I talked to his sister, and she told us that the target does live there, and he is an IP (Iraqi police officer)," the Fayetteville, N.C., native said." She said he wasn't home at the time; he was at work."

After questioning the man's sister, Bryant and his Soldiers searched the other houses in the immediate area and asked the man's neighbors if they could provide any information on the suspected militia member.

"Most of the people in the surrounding area knew the guy, but only a few of them knew he was bad," Sgt. Michael Schmieder, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, said. "Then again, they themselves could be bad and just trying to protect him."

However, after questioning several people, the Soldiers did find one man who was able to confirm that their target was involved in militia activity and was willing to provide information that could help locate him.

"I talked to a police captain who lived in the area, and he did know that the guy we were looking for works at the IP station. The captain identified him and said he is a member of a militia in the area," Bryant said. "He knows he's bad and is willing to give us more information on him, if need be. We gave him a tip-line card, and we expect him to call back to help us with possible future targeting."

After clearing the area and obtaining all the information they could on their initial target, the Bandit Soldiers moved to a nearby palm grove and took part in a sweep of the area, which was roughly one square kilometer.

According to Schmieder, the Soldiers targeted this area because they suspected that militia members might be using the palm grove as a mortar launch point and a place to hide weapon caches.

"They try to put stuff in places where they think we won't go like this," Schmieder said of the palm grove. "They see us focus on all the buildings, and they think we'll never go over here."

Making their way through the palm grove proved difficult at times as the vegetation was thick in spots, and they had to trudge through ankle deep mud in others. Several chain-link fences, which the Soldiers had to either find a way around or climb under, also impeded their progress.

While slowly making their way through the palm groves the Soldiers looked for any signs indicative of militia activity.

"Sometimes it's obvious ... like freshly dug dirt," Schmieder explained. "Sometimes maybe there's like a campsite or evidence that somebody's been hanging out around there, or maybe somebody who's wanted by us might actually be hanging out in the area trying to avoid us."

While his Soldiers looked under fallen palm leaves and areas that looked like they had been dug in for possible hiding spots for weapon caches, Bryant said that any freshly dug or burnt areas on the ground would be the biggest indicator that mortars were being fired from the area.

"We're looking for any type of dug in position, especially any dug dirt and burnt grass, weeds or soil around the area," he explained. "Something like that would tip us off of recent mortar launches."

The Soldiers came across several suspicious areas in the palm groves, such as an abandoned building with what appeared to be an adjacent junk yard and an abandoned box truck, but found nothing definitive of militia activity during their search.

Although his Soldiers did not find anything, Bryant said that they were able to gain some valuable information about the suspected militia member and stressed that just their presence in the area would have disrupted any militia activity during the day.

"We didn't find anything, but I do feel we were successful in our mission today," he said. "We got a lot of [intelligence] on the target, and if there were any possible hiding spots for caches or potential mortar launch points in the palm grove, I think we think we disrupted those."

• Date Taken: 04.16.2007
• Date Posted: 04.16.2007 16:45
• Story ID: 9953
• Location: DIWANIYAH, IQ